Quantitative assessment of hsp70, IL-1β and TNF-α in the spinal cord of dogs with E40K SOD1-associated degenerative myelopathy

Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. Canine degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a progressive adult-onset neurodegenerative disease commonly associated with an E40K missense mutation in the SOD1 gene. DM has many similarities to some familial forms of human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and may serve as an important disease model for therapy development. Pro-inflammatory mediators such as interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and heat shock protein (hsp) 70 play a role in the pathogenesis of ALS. The focus of the current work was to determine whether an inflammatory phenotype is present in canine DM as defined by IL-1β, TNF-α, and hsp70 responses in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and spinal cord tissue. Concentrations of hsp70, IL-1β and TNF-α were below the limits of detection by ELISA in the CSF of both normal and DM-affected dogs. Immunohistochemical staining for hsp70 was significantly increased in ependymal cells lining the spinal cord central canal of DM-affected dogs (P = 0.003). This was not associated with increased IL-1β or TNF-α staining, but was associated with increased CD18 staining in the gray matter of DM-affected dogs. These results suggest that hsp70 in spinal cord tissue is a potential inflammatory signature in canine DM.